The extent of the damage to the Great Barrier Reef has yet to be assessed. Photo / Supplied
The extent of the damage to the Great Barrier Reef has yet to be assessed. Photo / Supplied
Industry operators fear for the state of an Australian icon after Cyclone Debbie lashed Far North Queensland and parts of the Great Barrier Reef.
Emergency crews and tourism operators have been unable to assess the full extent of the damage so far on tourist magnets like Hamilton Island and Airlie Beach.
However, Cyclone Debbie saw the iconic areas - home to the Great Barrier Reef's famous "heart", which is an international drawcard for tourists - battered by winds in excess of 200km/h and huge tidal surges that have flooded resorts and ripped boats from their moorings.
Yesterday, Daydream Island in the Whitsundays said it had "borne the brunt of Cyclone Debbie" with extreme rainfall and strong wind gusts damaging the property and surrounding areas.
The iconic heart reef is a magnet for tourists and the region is worth an estimated $700 million each year.
While they have not been able to assess the full extent of the damage, it said there was "general water damage to the main atrium and accommodation wings from the force of the driving rain".
"A boardwalk section has lifted away. Two of the three iconic Mermaid statues have been swept away," a spokesperson said.
Hamilton Island also sustained damage from wind gusts but the full extent yet to be assessed.
In the meantime, the resort was occupied by repeatedly asking guests to take cover in their rooms away from windows and doors, while working hard to provide them with torches, water and food.
Cyclone Debbie is the most severe storm to lash the state since Cyclone Yasi in 2011. That storm caused banana prices to rise to more than $15 a kilogram and is estimated to have cost about $400 million in tourism dollars.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council boss Daniel Gschwind said Hamilton Island and the Whitsundays generated about $2 million a day in tourism, which added up to more than $700 million a year for the region.
He fears images of boats ripped from moorings and hotel roofs torn to shreds by the "catastrophic" storm will deter those heading there in future.
"When the images of disasters, strong winds, uprooted trees go around the world and around Australia, some people incorrectly assume that all of Queensland is shut," he told AAP.
"We don't want a second wave of damage of people unnecessarily cancelling their holidays."
Cyclone Debbie makes landfall at Catseye beach, Hamilton Island. Photo / Twitter @RevellNorquay
Dive operators and charter flight companies will also feel the impact of any damage to the iconic reef, which is already suffering from coral bleaching due to warmer sea temperatures.
While the extent of any damage is unknown, dive operator Tony Fontes said the cyclone could be a mixed blessing that would damage coral but also help cool the sea and potentially reduce the bleaching progress.
"Locally we've seen cyclone damage to the reef before and it is awful," he told The Guardian. "Locally it's a disaster but reef-wide it's a good thing - I guess that's the best way to look at it."
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority director David Wachenfeld said the main worry for the reef would be "physical damage" during high wind speeds in the eye of the storm.
That, combined with widespread bleaching in the past two years, could be bad news for the natural attraction overall.
"We've got two different styles of extreme weather events delivering different coral impacts - but nonetheless killing corals in two different parts of the reef," he said.
"There is some overlap between them but, essentially, each of the three events [the 2016 and 2017 bleaching and Cyclone Debbie] is covering a different large area of the Great Barrier Reef.
"The three of them in conjunction will have delivered a really serious impact in just over a year."
